After councillors voted unanimously to pass their concerns to Whitehall, a three-page letter was posted to Mr Hunt earlier this week.

The letter informs Mr Hunt of the long-running Wynyard saga and calls for him to either come to Hartlepool to gauge the strength of feeling in the town or to invite a council delegation to the capital.

Hartlepool’s ceremonial mayor, Coun Stephen Akers-Belcher is the main signatory on the letter, followed by chief executive Dave Stubbs, council leader Christopher Akers-Belcher and then all of the councillors who attended the public meeting at the Town Hall Theatre last month.